Source of Baltimore Harbor woes remains unclear

Baltimore harbor odor woes still a mystery

Kenneth K. Lam

Dead fish float in Inner Harbor over Memorial Day weekend. The die-offs have continued this week, with an environmental group and government regulators sparring over whether a sewage spill has fouled the water.

Dead fish float in Inner Harbor over Memorial Day weekend. The die-offs have continued this week, with an environmental group and government regulators sparring over whether a sewage spill has fouled the water. (Kenneth K. Lam)

The source of the sewer smell many noticed in Baltimore harbor this week remains a mystery, as city officials say an extensive search has found no evidence of a sewage spill or overflow, despite high bacteria levels in water samples taken by an environmental group.

Tina Meyers, the Harbor Waterkeeper, said that water samples taken Tuesday by Blue Water Baltimore, the local watershed watchdog of which she is a part, found elevated bacteria levels in two places in the harbor - in front of Pier 6 and in the deep shipping channel by the Domino sugar refinery.

The bacteria readings were nearly two and three times, respectively, the recommended safe human contact level, she said.

"This is higher than we've ever seen in the channel in the Harbor (normally our high levels of bacteria are in coves/ near outfalls," Meyers said in an email. She said she continues to see dead fish and eels, plus greaseballs and other debris indicative of a sewage break or overflow.

But city and state agencies found no ongoing leaks or spills after an extensive search, reported Cathy Powell, spokeswoman for the Baltimore Department of Public Works. She suggested that Friday's storm, plus algae blooms that have filled the harbor for the past couple weeks and killed hundreds of fish, were responsible for the odor.

Public works crews checked all the storm drains and sanitary sewer lines around the harbor, Powell said in an email, while the police helicopter Foxtrot helped out with a flyover using thermal imaging to try to spot any water discharges.

A field team from the Maryland Department of the Environment saw "mostly clear" water near the 1000 block of East Key Highway, where the smell of sewage and dead fish had been reported earlier in the week. The crew spotted "grayish/green" water around the 700 block of Eastern Avenue. The state team took its own samples for bacteria levels and dissolved oxygen, with results due sometime today (Friday).

UPDATE: Water samples taken by MDE show only one spot - near where the Jones Falls empties into the harbor - had bacteria levels high enough to be a health risk if someone fell in or even splashed water on themselves. Two other spots - off Key Highway and by Domino Sugar - had bacteria counts around the limits for what's considered safe for swimming. But the rest were well below safety thresholds.

MDE spokeswoman Samantha Kappalman emailed that bacteria levels can vary, but the latest samples "appear indicative of what urban areas with a lot of impervious surfaces (aka pavement and buildings) washing into a marine waterway would see after a major storm."

Whatever was causing it, the odor seems to have dissipated in many places around the harbor, city and state spokespeople say.